Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Gatchaman Crowds Ep 11: The battle rages on as the Gatchaman tried their best to immoblise the Neo Hundred. Rui managed to take back control of Souzai X and able to aid the people using the GALAX app.

Sugayama was preached by Hajime and he went online with a written script. He got pissed off over the comments that he decided meet the people in public. He went live trying to convince people not to fleet the city. But Berg Katze hacked the system and disgused as Sugayama. He told everyone now to press the C button on their app to become the CROWDS...

Actually the first half of this episode was more of the G-team talking of how Hajime has influenced them while the second half was more of the less the same as the previous episode. The only plot now is Berg Katze has tricked everyone into becoming CROWDS which is of course a trap! With one more episode to go, can the Gatchaman save the city and defeat Berg Katze!?

Fantasista Doll Ep 11: Komachi activated a command which revive the dolls' memories. They were formally Komachi's dolls which got Uzume worried. Later, Rafflesia and the others began to tell them what the dolls were originally for.

The dolls were given to various people hoping they could release their full potential. Kagami's brother, Makoto was one of the people who came up with the idea. He was abducted by the organisation but was rescued by Rafflesia. Makoto revealed himself to Kagami as he was wearing as the town mascot all this while.

Komachi's aim was to revive her original doll and friend, Sonnet by extracting the data of Uzume's dolls. Uzume got nervous and accidentally told the dolls to go back with Komachi. Later, she met Anna who explained that the dolls will lose their memories once the data are extracted.

Uzume found a note from the dolls telling her to find her "birthday present" but she couldn't find it. She went back to confront Komachi and realise the connection between her and the dolls is not broken all along. Komachi decided to battle her instead for the fate of the dolls...

So much development in this episode. Komachi is the original owner of Sasara and the others which explain why she didn't mistreat Madeline in the previous episode. Her goal is to revive her friend, Sonnet at the cost of the dolls' memories. Uzume have conflicted feelings but learning the truth, she decided to stand against Komachi which lead them battling Proto Zero the third time! Can Uzume overcome this challenge or see her dolls taken away? Find out in the final episode next week!

Majestic Prince Ep 24 FINAL: Team Rabbits defend the Star Rose from attacks as it make it's way into the wrap gate. Izuru continued to fight with Jiart and his mind is behaving more like a savage beast.

Everyone tried to talk sense into him which he snapped out from it. Kei tried to help him but got hit by Jiart. As the others bring Kei away, Izuru's mind was more focused and Red 5 became a more powerful machine.

Izuru was now able to beat Jiart but he too released his limiters. The Star Rose finally collided the gate and deal a fatal blow to it. The Wulgaru retreated with Garukie commented that they might have a path to their "evolution." Izuru decided to throw his whole frame into Jiart leaving his core unit to deal the final blow into him.

We finally see Peko's eyes!

Jiart's mech was destroyed in the process as the gate also reached critical. Teoria, Daneel and Simon also managed to escape in time. When the dust settled down, everyone realised Izuru is missing. They did a search and found his core unit floating in space. Everyone then rushed to get him as he smiled a bit...

What a finale! There were some close shaves as I thought Kei, Simon or even Izuru are going to die. Izuru's mech also reached it's true powers and it is awesome! It overwhelm Jiart and using his frame as a decoy, Izuru dealt the finish blow. But is he truly gone? Even the Wulgaru suffered major losses but Garukie claimed there is always another evolution. With the ending similar to Gundam Seed, will we see a sequel?

Final Thoughts: When I first see the poster of this show, I thought it will be more of school life with mechs. But what I get was a fun show about five underdogs who used to be the laughing stock became heroes in the first episode. Izuru came about as one of the more positive Real Robot male lead unlike the emo Gundam 00 pilots and his dense attitude make him a lovable character. I thought Asagi will be like Izuru's rival but rather, he played the logic character with the usual stomach upset. Even though he has a crush on Kei but he decide to move back as Kei's heart is with Izuru. Instead, he play an important sub leader when Izuru was out in the last two episodes.

Kei is like the big sister of the group as she tried to bring the group together. She originally didn't like Izuru but after his constant time in the sick bay and seeing him talking to Teoria got her all worked up. Kei's concern was also showed in the finale as she risked getting killed by Jiart and was extremely anxious when Izuru went missing. Oh yeah, her cake are probably the most sweetest thing in the universe that nobody like it! Ataru and Tamaki are the comic relief with Ataru being the hard core Arms otaku and Tamaki always hoping for a cool and handsome guy to sweep off her head. They too got their moments with their wild antics which make the five main characters a wonderful group to watch.

The rest of the supporting cast was good. Rin also played mother hen to the team and her habit of sucking a lollipop is a constant stress relief for her. The supporting team were fun to watch especially Anna's crush to Asagi was sweet. Teoria was like Lacus Clyne but the only problem there wasn't much development between her and Izuru despite her DNA sample was used to create him and Asagi.

Even though this marked the end of this series, there were some questions yet unanswered. Why Simon has a death wish? Will the Wulgaru return again after suffering major losses? Can Tamaki score with any men? Will Anna got her wish of having Asagi as a brother? Will Kei make the perfect cake? Will Izuru get back and finish his manga? Will Teoria even get a moment with Izuru? And the mother of all questions-Is Ange a guy or a girl?

If we are getting a second series, I hope these questions will be resolved. Until then, one of the better mecha shows this year that is not a Gundam or Macross!

The World God Only Knows S3 Ep 12 FINAL: Haqua continue battling Lune but she is a sadist and tried to murder her. Meanwhile, Keima and Chihiro were rushing to meet Ayumi at the display ship near the sea.

Chihiro admitted she told Ayumi that Keima is not serious over her but somehow she want Ayumi to trust Keima. Keima finally arrived and saw Ayumi in a wedding dress. After some squabble, Ayumi want him to be serious to her and finally kiss him. Her wings were revealed and Mercury was revived.

The Vintage followers surrounded them but Akari and a group of her men arrived to defeat Vintage. Tenri also arrived (with wings) and took Mercury to rescue the others. Keima was surprised that Akari was also a member of the Loose Souls team but he could not do nothing now and left with Chihiro.

The Jupiter Sisters revived Kanon/Apollo and together with the Loose Souls defeated Vintage and saved the girls. When Chihiro was about to leave, she told him it is better that they go their separate ways. He told her he will go and see her performance as Chihiro bid farewell to him.

That night, Chihiro was about to perform in the school festival when Ayumi, Yui, Elsie and even Kanon also arrived to perform. As they were performing, both Keima and Chihiro cried knowing their first love is over.

A few days later, everything went back to normal although Lune escaped from Haqua. She was reinstated as a Loose Souls agent and Nora is promoted to head chief. Elsie claimed everything went back to normal as Keima has just finished his games...

A finale that is both good and heart-breaking. The Jupiter sisters were finally reunited and like the manga, they defeated Vintage together with the Loose Souls team. Although the danger is over but Lune has escaped which I am sure we will see her again.

Ayumi's confession was all right but it was Chihiro who got the short end of the stick. She thought she will get happiness as Keima tried to woo her (in an attempt to find out if she hosted Mercury) Instead, Keima used harsh words on her which showed how those lines in gaming might backfired in real life. In the end, he realised he felt like a jerk and realised the pain of first love. Some of you might wonder how did Diana got her wings back? Apparently Tenri was too shy to confess her love for Keima but once bothe Tenri and Diana come to an understanding, her wings bloomed. (Of course, we will probably get an extra episode to conclude that.)

Final Thoughts: I have been following this series since it's first season and seeing my favourite arc-the Goddess arc came to the screen was a dream come true. The only grip that they have to summarise Tsukiyo, Yui and Akari's chapters into half an episode. But then they will have to extend this season into 24 to 26 episodes as there are so many things to cover. Also, if you didn't watch the OVA before this season which is about Tenri/Diana, you might not understand some plot lines too in this season.

Keima was as usual a smart ass who relies on gaming plots to win the hearts of the girls. After Kanon's temporary departure, the focus is finding the Jupiter Sisters which is suppose to be laying in four of Keima's previous targets. Elsie (who is my favourite character) also take a step back as she has to sit in for Kanon throughout this season.

It was fun to see the Jupiter Sisters interacting especially when they were fighting over Keima. But probably the most developed was not the goddess but Chihiro who got dragged into this conflict. Even though she want to know more about it, Keima decided not to in order to protect her. However she suffered the pain of first love loss and that also make Keima realised he has unintentionally broke Chihiro's heart. But seeing Keima getting back to his games and Chihiro is also an optimistic person, things will heal in time.

The manga's current arc is the time travel arc with Keima dealing a psychopath, Kaori and his relationship with young Tenri might get the turn for the better or the worse. Hoping we will see this arc in the near future. Until then, see you in the next review!